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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  3. He was locked up in a ________________.
  4. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  5. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  11. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  12. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. It's one o'clock ________________.
  15. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  18. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  19. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  20. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  21. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  22. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  23. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  24. That was ________________ to happen.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. bound — tied together
  3. cell — in a prison
  4. sharp — with an edge
  5. branch — a division
  6. cell — a phone
  7. branch — of a bank
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. cell — in biology
  10. drill — the tool
  11. sharp — clever
  12. branch — of a tree
  13. shower — rain
  14. sharp — exactly
  15. drill — a practice
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. bass — the instrument
  18. content — the amount
  19. bound — obliged
  20. bass — low music
  21. bass — the fish
  22. drill — army training
  23. content — happy
  24. bound — certain

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com